The movement of load carrying vehicles through a conduit by air has been proposed in the past. However, in order to obtain maximum efficiency for such a system, the vehicles must be collected, stored, processed and released into the conduit at appropriate times and in accordance with certain operating parameters. It is desirable that a vehicle processing zone be located upstream from each operational unit such as a vehicle loader and vehicle unloader and since operational times may vary and even the speed of vehicles moving through the conduit are not uniform, it is important that the movement of the vehicles be carefully controlled.
The present invention is directed to various improvements in a method of and an apparatus for temporarily storing and processing of vehicles moving through a conduit by air and insures the proper control and release of a vehicle to an operating zone when certain operating parameters are met.